Introduction to Philosophy (PHI101)

This course covers fundamental theories in the history of philosophy and examines what philosophers do, the role philosophy has played throughout the history of human thought and its ongoing importance in the contemporary world. It will introduce students to the core areas of logic, metaphysics, epistemology and value theory. It will examine specific topics such as the structure of valid arguments, the ultimate nature of reality, the relations between knowledge, truth and belief, and free will and determinism.

Credit Hours :
3

Fundamentals of Environmental Ethics (PHI121)

This course covers the fundamental issues of Environmental Ethics and the most essential problems of environmental concern today. The course will focus on the ethical relationship between human beings and the natural environment, definitions of nature and wilderness, distributive justice and sustainability in the use of resources, global versus local responsibilities, the rights of future generations, and the relationship between environmental ethics and environmental politics.

Credit Hours :
3

International Ethics (PHI122)

This course critically examines how ethical theory is applied in international situations and how ethics is the basis of, and is connected, to international law. Topics include, but are not limited to, critical analysis of global, transnational environmental duties, just war theory, women's rights, children's rights, human rights, animal rights, globalization, international justice, distributive justice, cultural relativism, and the ethics of tolerance and multiculturalism.

Credit Hours :
3

Critical Thinking (PHI180)

Students will learn to recognize logical arguments in ordinary language contexts, to analyze those arguments into their constituent parts, and to test arguments for logical validity and soundness. Students will learn to recognize various sorts of fallacies and learn to distinguish different types of inference. Students will also learn how to draw argument diagrams, identify inference indicators and to construct logically valid arguments.

Credit Hours :
3

Logic (PHI200)

This course examines the logical structure of reasoned argument, focusing primarily on propositional symbolic analysis of arguments. Topics include how to differentiate between valid and invalid argument, inductive and deductive inference, and sound and unsound argument. Special emphasis will be given to applications of propositional logic by translating arguments in ordinary language into symbolic language in order to evaluate their soundness, together with the identification of fallacies.

Credit Hours :
3

Ancient Philosophy (PHI211)

This course examines the main problems of Ancient Greek and Classical philosophy and its most important figures. It covers the emergence of humanistic philosophical thought and its development throughout antiquity by investigating such thinkers as the Pre-Socratics, Sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the different Hellenistic Philosophical Schools and such topics as the ultimate nature of reality, philosophical method, theory of knowledge, political philosophy, ethics and aesthetics.

Credit Hours :
3

Modern Philosophy (PHI212)

This course covers Western Philosophy from the 17th to the 19th centuries including Rationalism (including Descartes, Leibniz and Spinoza), Empiricism (including Locke, Berkeley and Hume), and German Idealism (including Kant, Fichte, Hegel and Schelling). It focuses on the metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science, philosophy of religion and ethics in each of these philosophical movements as well as the critical relations between them.

Credit Hours :
3

Medical Ethics (PHI224)

This course examines various ethical choices, actions and issues which arise in the practice of medicine as a profession. Issues to be discussed include: theories of morality and elements of professionalism, the nature of the doctor-patient relationship, reproductive technologies, euthanasia, resource issues (access to health care, resource allocation), cultural perspectives on medicine, health and professionalism (Islamic and Western perspectives), and research and testing issues.

Credit Hours :
3

Citizenship & Civil Society (PHI225)

This course examines the concepts of citizenship, rights, responsibilities and obligations. Students will learn how the concepts of citizenship and rights arose and developed and how they are understood in contemporary terms. Students will also learn how citizenship and rights affect the everyday lives of people in terms of immigration, security, patriotic duties, and the relationship of citizens to government.

Credit Hours :
3

Human Rights Theory (PHI226)

This course examines the nature and origin of the concept of human rights and the applications of the concept in all levels of contemporary society and political structures. Various concepts and their implications for implementation for human rights will be reviewed. A philosophical framework will be used to examine, interpret, and explain the relevance of human rights to today's issues in a global framework.

Credit Hours :
3

Aesthetics (PHI231)

This course examines the basic themes in aesthetic studies. The course will provide students with specific methods to analyze and evaluate works of art and literature. The course deals with various definitions of beauty, fine arts, criteria of aesthetic experience, creativity, criticism, and the relation between art and society. It also looks at the history of the development of aesthetic discourse, especially in antiquity, modernity and postmodernity.

Credit Hours :
3

Philosophy of Education (PHI270)

This course critically examines philosophies of education and the conceptual relations between knowledge, truth, experience, culture and human values. It examines what can be taught, how it can be learned, and the philosophical psychology of education. Students will develop critical skills regarding education, teaching, learning and self-education, and will examine the development of education in contemporary society to achieve a greater understanding of the philosophical problems that underlie differing philosophical views of education.

Credit Hours :
3

History and Philosophy of Science (PHI271)

This course deals with the most important methodological, metaphysical and epistemological problems connected to the rise of the natural sciences and their development. It also examines these issues with respect to the social sciences to see whether the natural sciences are their most appropriate methodological model. Topics include: the problems of contemporary scientific method, scientific realism, scientific antirealism, the development of scientific knowledge, confirmation, explanation, paradigms, scientific revolutions, laws and theories.

Credit Hours :
3

Ethics (PHI310)

This course deals with the main problems of moral philosophy and its connection with practical life. It covers philosophical approaches to the nature of right and wrong, moral obligation, the source of moral rights and duties, teleological ethics, and moral values. It familiarizes students with metaethical perspectives on normative ethical theories and introduces students to the application of normative ethics to real life situations.

Credit Hours :
3

Medieval (PHI311)

This course examines some of the major figures in medieval philosophy, from both the occidental and the oriental traditions of intellectual thought: Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd, Al Farabi, Augustine, Boethius, Abelard, Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and William of Ockham. In the process, it introduces students to the principle themes, concepts and theories of philosophy in the period, including metaphysical questions about universals, philosophy of language, philosophy of religion and logic.

Credit Hours :
3

Political & Social Philosophy (PHI312)

This course examines some of the main theories and concepts in the history of political and social philosophy in the western tradition. Figures examined include Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, Mill, Rawls and Foucault. Concepts discussed include: goals, purposes, guiding principles and moral principles underlying social and political philosophy, the state of nature, the social contract, the nature of justice, pluralism, the separation of powers.

Credit Hours :
3

Contemporary Islamic Political Philosophy (PHI314)

This course examines Islamic political thought in the modern period by examining the works of a range of contemporary Muslim political thinkers: liberals, fundamentalists, moderates, revolutionaries, advocates of theocracy, and internationalists. Themes include: the development of classical Islamic political thought, concepts of society, authority, law, justice, international relations, the relation between religious and political institutions, and Islamic politics in a global context.

Credit Hours :
3

Technology and Culture (PHI315)

This course explores basic concepts of technology and examines its specific approaches: from Aristotle in antiquity, Bacon and Descartes in early modern times, to 19th and 20th century approaches, including materialistic, idealistic, and phenomenological traditions, Critical Theory, Systems Theory and the recent visions of Techno-Science. It examines questions about the consitutive role of technology in the production of knowledge, the impact of technology on human identity and ethical questions about recent applications of technology in bioscience and nanotechnology.

Credit Hours :
3

Ethics in Business Governance (PHI320)

This course examines issues in Business Ethics specifically designed for Management and related fields. Major topics covered include: Corporate Social Responsibility, Resource Management and Structural Efficiency, Organizational Diversity, Boards and Value Creation and Business Intelligence Practices. It places these topics in the context of contemporary global economics, international law, and theories of power, while also providing historical and humanistic perspectives on value theory.

Credit Hours :
3

Epistemology (PHI322)

This course examines various theories of knowledge, both from an historical perspective and an analytical perspective. Topics covered include: the meaning of knowledge, theories of justification, types of knowledge, skepticism, and sources of knowledge. The course also investigates the institutional production of knowledge and the link between knowledge and power, and the processes for the authorization, production, reproduction and preservation of what counts as knowledge in the sciences and social sciences.

Credit Hours :
3

Philosophy of Mind (PHI323)

This course explores various views on the problems of mind, such as the issues of consciousness, personal identity, mind/brain interaction, physicalism, functionalism, the relationship between computation and mind, and various architectures of the mind such as the modular, the multiple drafts and the theatre of the mind models. Of principle importance will be the relationship between abstract objects (such as mathematical and physical theories, logic and arguments) and the mind.

Credit Hours :
3

Philosophical Problems (PHI331)

This course examines the philosophical dimensions of some topic of interest, or the work of a particular philosopher or philosophical movement. It will be tailored to the students' philosophical interests and the instructor's expertise to provide an opportunity to explore in depth some topic or topics that are not otherwise available. It enables students to refine and develop their research skills at the same time as acquiring specific knowledge about the chosen topics.

Credit Hours :
3

Metaphysics (PHI332)

This course explores issues in metaphysics and philosophy of mind. Topics include causation, determinism, free will, the nature of consciousness, the nature of being and existence, space and time, identity, universals, the relation between mind and body and the relation of language to thought and the world. The course examines these topics both analytically and through the history of philosophy.

Credit Hours :
3

Philosophy of Language (PHI333)

This course surveys traditional and contemporary problems related to language. Topics include: the nature of language, the relationship between semantic theory and philosophy of language, how language refers to the world, how thoughts receive mental content, the difference between what is said and what is communicated, truth, demonstratives, indexicals, and self-reference. The course examines these topics both analytically and by reference to the history of philosophy.

Credit Hours :
3

Philosophy of Nature (PHI360)

This course examines the concepts of nature in Western, Asian and Middle Eastern Philosophy, and tackles some special problems that arise in attempting to define both human nature and the natural world in scientific terms. Its focus is on how the concept of nature is used in environmental ethics, philosophy of science and in defining human beings, and especially on the hidden normative dimensions of the term.

Credit Hours :
3

Islamic Phliosophy (PHI362)

This course analyzes the sources, problems and trends of Islamic Philosophy. It deals with the factors that led to the historical rise of Islamic Philosophy, and also with the doctrines, concepts and arguments of Muslim philosophers. It analyzes the main problems of Islamic Philosophy, the connection between religion and philosophy, and Islamic perceptions of the relations between human beings and the universe.

Credit Hours :
3

Senior Capstone (PHI411)

This course builds on the skills and knowledge base which students have acquired during the major and investigates how the core areas of philosophy all contribute to the overall development of the chosen subject. The capstone is designed to develop and refine independent philosophical research skills, analysis and reasoned argument, and culminates in the production of a senior research paper.

Credit Hours :
3

Internship (PHI412)

This course gives practical experience in philosophical research by students assisting in current research projects of faculty at UAEU or elsewhere, or by means of an individual research project that examines practical philosophical problems tailored to the needs and interests of the student. Where possible the latter research project will be undertaken in a workplace chosen by the student, which affords opportunities for applied philosophy or for gathering data or experience relevant to the research project.

Credit Hours :
3

Advanced Topics in Ethics (PHI421)

The course covers current philosophical thinking in the area of Ethics. Many of the topics considered in PHI 310 will be considered in this course, but at a much more sophisticated level as appropriate to a senior year course. In particular the course will develop an understanding of the relationship between metaethics and normative ethics, as well as the relationship between normative ethics and applied ethics.

Credit Hours :
3

Contemporary Western Philosophy (PHI432)

This course will provide students with analyses of the main trends and systems of contemporary western philosophical thought. Topics covered may include Analytic Philosophy, Pragmatism, and Continental Philosophy (including Existentialism, Structuralism, Phenomenology, Hermeneutics and Deconstruction). Themes include: philosophical method, epistemology, philosophy of language, philosophical psychology and ethics. Philosophers may include: Russell, Peirce, Sartre, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Gadamer, Habermas, Foucault and Derrida.

Credit Hours :
3

Cognitive Science (PHI440)

This course covers current theories and debates in cognitive science, the interdisciplinary study of mind, drawing on philosophy, psychology, linguistics, computer science, logic and neuroscience on the premise that the concept of information and computation are the key explanatory tools. Topics cover such issues as perception, reasoning, emotion, language, imagination, embodied cognition and extended cognition. The course draws on research in all the component disciplines to raise philosophical issues and to apply philosophical critique.

Credit Hours :
3

Modern Arabic Thought (PHI442)

The course examines Arab philosophical, social, and political thought from the 19th century till the present time. It traces the motives, sources and developments that influenced Arab thought during that period. It uses analytic and historical perspectives to examine the prevailing theories, concepts and applications of modern Arab thought in both regional and global contexts and examines the work of a selection of key Arab thinkers in detail.

Credit Hours :
3

Sustainability & Environmental Ethics (PHI461)

This course examines and discusses a selection of the basic texts for perceiving a "fragile" and exhaustible nature and environment. It critically examines key concepts of sustainability like the proclaimed "limits to growth" in the early 1970s, "ecological footprints," "management rules," the question of how far technology can be a substitute for nature, as well as ethical issues of sustainability, responsibility to nature and rights of future generations.

Credit Hours :
3

Principles of Professional Ethics (PHIL120)

Students will examine various ethical theories and how they are applied to specific issues within business and professional life. Students will learn to develop their own professional ethics and to reason ethically about professional life. Students will learn key terminology, theories and problematic cases for professional ethics. Students will also learn how to research about professional ethics and how to propose and present rational, ethical justifications for their professional decisions.